Suspicious package neutralized at Grand Ronde mailroom

GRAND RONDE – A suspicious package discovered at the Grand Ronde Tribal mailroom at about 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21, prompted the closure of Grand Ronde Road and the arrival of the Salem Police Department bomb squad.

The black PVC package was left on the front deck of the mailroom with a 4-by-4-inch post-it-note underneath it. It was immediately reported to the Grand Ronde Police Department and Sgt. Jake McKnight cordoned off the area and contacted the Salem Police Department.

The Tribe’s Emergency Operations Team, which was already meeting to deal with the Willamina Creek Fire, expanded the exclusion area to more than 1,000 feet and evacuated the Grand Ronde Food Bank, which was within the exclusion area and was scheduled to have a food distribution that morning.

The Tribe also closed access to its main campus entrance off Grand Ronde Road at 9615 Grand Ronde Road.

The Salem Police Department bomb squad arrived in Grand Ronde at approximately 9:30 a.m. and two robots were sent into the mailroom facility at 9:35 a.m. to take an X-ray of the device. A decision was made at 10 a.m. to neutralize the suspicious package, which occurred at 10:11 a.m. Minor damage occurred to the Mailroom building’s wooden deck.

The Tribal campus was put in lockdown shortly after 10 a.m. and Tribal employees were asked to stay inside. The lockdown was lifted at approximately 10:30 and it was announced that there was no threat to the community.

The incident is being investigated by law enforcement.